Cleaning Instruments

[Hot Tub]

What would you recommend for cleaning open pore instruments? I have a combination of swamp ash and bubinga bodies, wenge and maple necks, and rosewood fingerboards. There's no laquer finishes - it's all natural wood. Can you get kits, or can I use one "do it all" cleaner?

[xilddx]

[quote name='Hot Tub' post='737044' date='Feb 6 2010, 11:42 AM']What would you recommend for cleaning open pore instruments? I have a combination of swamp ash and bubinga bodies, wenge and maple necks, and rosewood fingerboards. There's no laquer finishes - it's all natural wood. Can you get kits, or can I use one "do it all" cleaner?

[/quote]
Hard furniture wax on the open pore wood bodies and necks, Briwax is very good, sort of thing Warwick give you, and Martin Petersen uses a similar wax. Get it on a clean cloth and rub it in a circular motion. You can also put some wax on a piece of very fine grade wire wool which should take off the top layer of dirt and give the wood a nice sheen. If the wood is really dirty, you may need to use something like naptha, but be really careful, it's nasty and extremely flammable, read the safety data sheet and stick to it.

Lemon oil on the rosewood boards. Dunlop 65. Give it a good soak for 10 minutes then cloth it, working off the crap with your cloth covered finger tips, you'll get a lot of crap out that way.

[Hot Tub]

Ah, thanks for that! Bit nervous about the wire wool bit, but I'll give it a shot with some good quality cleaning cloth.

[Marvin]

[quote name='Hot Tub' post='737094' date='Feb 6 2010, 12:33 PM']Ah, thanks for that! Bit nervous about the wire wool bit, but I'll give it a shot with some good quality cleaning cloth. [/quote]
[u][b]Very[/b][/u] fine wire wool should work well, you don't want the stuff you can strip paint off of metal with. I use it on pieces of furniture I've made it really works the wax into the grain. I prefer it to using a cleaning cloth because you seem to get a better finish.
Find an off cut of wood and try it for yourself if you're unsure.

Edited February 6, 2010 by Marvin

[xilddx]

[quote name='Hot Tub' post='737094' date='Feb 6 2010, 12:33 PM']Ah, thanks for that! Bit nervous about the wire wool bit, but I'll give it a shot with some good quality cleaning cloth. [/quote]
Don't worry bout the wire wool, if you get zero grade it's just like a slightly abrasive cloth. It just takes a few microns off. Naturally, start off gently in a seldom seen area and see how it goes.

I can't believe your basses are just wood with nothing to seal them though. That would be daft. They must have something on to protect them from moisture loss and moisture absorption. Unless they were made by your mum or something

[geoffbyrne]

To actually *clean* things like wood & fretboards, I've had good results with a stuff called 'Liquid Gold' - you'll get it on Ebay.

Antique dealers use this to both clean & liven up the colour of unprotected elderly wooden items.

It's a combination of aromatic, light and heavy oils. It also contains trichloroethylene (tricllone) to be a little bit careful.

I buy a can, then pour a dollop into an open jar & leave it. This lets the aromatics & the triclone evaporate & leaves me the heavier oils that's good for reviving wood - it's mainly almond oil.

The fresh stuff in the can containing the triclone can be used sparingly on a cloth for really dirty bits - like grotty fretboards for instance.

Lemon oil is ideal, but a lot of stuff sold as lemon oil is just mineral oil scented with lemon. Check what you buy is '100% lemon oil' - the Dunlop mentioned above is ideal.

On my own instruments, I sometimes give the fretboard a quick wipe with a bit of Tung oil on a cloth, then polish it straight off again. Tung oil dries hard & tends to seal the pourous wood, but can be easily removed using a light oil like lemon.

G.

Edited February 6, 2010 by geoffbyrne

[Lfalex v1.1]

[quote name='silddx' post='737242' date='Feb 6 2010, 02:39 PM']Unless they were made by your mum or something [/quote]
Or Warwick.
Or if your Mum's (and hopefully your) Surname is "Warwick"

[Jerry_B]

[quote name='geoffbyrne' post='737463' date='Feb 6 2010, 06:08 PM']On my own instruments, I sometimes give the fretboard a quick wipe with a bit of Tung oil on a cloth, then polish it straight off again. Tung oil dries hard & tends to seal the pourous wood, but can be easily removed using a light oil like lemon.[/quote]

That depends on whether you mean actual pure Tung oil, or what's sometimes sold as Tung oil (but is a mixture of a few things with Tung oil). There is a difference. Pure Tung oil tends to rely on rather warm conditions in order to set. If it's left somewhere that's cool it takes forever to dry - even more so if there's a certain amount of humidity. Even then it can tend to dry unevenly.

[geoffbyrne]

[quote name='Jerry_B' post='737754' date='Feb 6 2010, 11:47 PM']That depends on whether you mean actual pure Tung oil, or what's sometimes sold as Tung oil (but is a mixture of a few things with Tung oil). There is a difference. Pure Tung oil tends to rely on rather warm conditions in order to set. If it's left somewhere that's cool it takes forever to dry - even more so if there's a certain amount of humidity. Even then it can tend to dry unevenly.[/quote]


Yup, fair 'nuf, but I can honestly say I've had no probs using pure Tung oil.

G.